Right, but my concern with high stats kids from pricey state schools with crap aid (like IL and PA) is that too many find that after 2 years at a CC, they can’t afford to transfer. There was a IL student who posted 3 or 4 years ago who went to a CC because that’s what his school’s GC advised everyone. He had high stats and could have gotten free tuition at a number of schools…but now as a transfer he was finding that he couldn’t afford any schools. I don’t know what the poor kid ended up doing.
The OP’s budget isn’t too awful. Parents can pay $5k, student can borrow $5500, and between summer earnings and school year earnings, the student should be able to contribute about $5k-7k per year (perhaps more if she gets a job at something like Target which will provide some funds for college.
Congratulations for your student who qualified for the big scholarship. And you’re right, fo the student wouldn’t have qualified the 2+2 option was better. How much did it cost you each year for junior and senior years?